Young readers: Page-turners include visual and narrative escapes

“What’s Your Favorite Animal?” by Eric Carle and Friends. Henry Holt. 32 pages. $17.99. Before opening this delightful book, pose the title question to your young child. Then see as you read it together...

Before opening this delightful book, pose the title question to your young child. Then see as you read it together if you find that animal among the 14 illustrations by well-known picture-book artists. Each spreads across two pages, using different media from collage to crayon. Lovely horses by Susan Jeffers gallop by while Jon Klassen’s duck lies on the ground looking up. Follow the read-aloud with an art session where you each have drawn your favorite animal.

Baseball fans will revel in this celebration of the history and pleasures of baseball. Glorious colored pencil illustrations by Rauìl Coloìn start and end with children playing ball. In between, the poetic text and glowing pictures cover everything from scoreboards and stats to “the fastball, the curveball, the knuckleball, the slider.” One page folds out to create a tribute to great players. Perfect for elementary school children and older baseball buffs.

Ariana, who lives in California, would like a room of her own. She’d also like to see less of her cousin, Laila, newly arrived from Afghanistan and all too perfect. But the 12-year-old encounters more serious problems when her family’s grocery store is ransacked and a nearby store set on fire. Joining forces with her cousin might be the only way to solve the mystery behind the attacks. The satisfying story for grades 4 to 7 weaves in Afghan food, customs and history, with a glossary at the back.

Siobhan, a high school senior in small town Ontario, lives in a world like ours except for one difference: dragons. Dragons have always existed but because they thrive on carbon emissions, their numbers are growing. Siobhan’s friend Owen has just moved to town with his uncle and aunt, both dragonslayers, and his aunt’s wife, a blacksmith. The family persuades Siobhan, who composes and plays music, to become Owen’s bard, in hopes that her songs will help them recruit raise the alarm about dragons and recruit new dragonslayers. Engaging characters and plenty of action make this an appealing fantasy for teens.

Kathleen Odean, who lives in North Kingstown, is the author of Great Books for Girls and other guides to children’s books.